Welcome back to the Hosting Hotline! This is an Ask Me Anything where each week we’ll answer your questions on Airbnb, STRs, real estate, and everything in between.

Samantha asks:

We have two beach properties only listed on Airbnb and Vrbo. We're getting ready to get a PMS with the website builder so we can start doing direct bookings. As we were syncing everything up, I realized our host fee on Airbnb would change from our current 3% rate to the dreaded 15%. We can adjust our pricing to offset it, but is it really worth it? We get about 95% of our bookings from Airbnb, and I'm nervous about how our listings will compare to others in our area. Another idea is to still get a PMS and sync it with Vrbo, but not sync it with Airbnb to avoid that fee, or make a direct booking site through Squarespace and not use a PMS. That also makes my head spin, so I would love to hear your thoughts.

(00:00:00) Introduction

(00:02:34) Choosing Data Over Drama

(00:05:48) The Fee To Connect To A PMS

(00:07:02) The Dangers Of Listing Only With Airbnb

(00:08:34) Direct Booking With Return Guests

(00:11:40) How We Would Approach This Decision

Thanks to everyone who submitted questions. To hear your voice on the show and send a question to Sarah and Annette, submit your burning hosting questions at: hostinghotline.com.

Resources:

• Click here for full show notes

• PriceLabs

• Key Data

• Video: How To Create A Direct Booking Site For Your Airbnb Business

• Airbnb Essentials Checklist: hostchecklist.com

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